you know when you play a game and it makes you appreciate a different game in the series more or even a game in a completely different series altogether? i don't know if that's necessarily a good or a bad thing but mgsv made me appreciate both mgs3 more and just reminded me how much i love deus ex. i'm 99% certain mgs3 is my favourite mgs game now, and delta will likely cement that fact even further. it's probably not good to start a review talking about how much you like other games, lmao, but the last 20% of this game was very hard to sit through and i wanted it to be over already, so this is just fresh thoughts coming from the last impression that was left on me.
in terms of gameplay, mgsv is without a doubt the best in the series. it's not something that can be debated. mechanically, the game simply just gives you dozens and dozens of more tools and dynamic situations that far exceed anything that was possible in other games. although in terms of rpg gameplay elements, mgs3 is still king and one could argue in favour of that one being better if only just because of the survival stuff. my core issue with this game that prevents it from being a 5/5 is that you can pinpoint the exact moment the game starts unraveling and falling apart, both narratively and in its mission design. this gradually became worse with every new batch of missions, and it became harder to enjoy as i felt and perceived the developers running out of steam in real time. i still wouldn't call these missions "bad" or say that the gameplay was unenjoyable, it's just a steep drop in quality when you compare this to the much stronger first half of the game.
there has been a lot of talk and coping in the past about kojima vs. konami and the development of this game. this may be a controversial take but i think konami takes way too much blame for kojima's ego and actions that led to the development problems of this game. to put it simply, i believe kojima achieved exactly what he wanted in terms of gameplay design, performance and visuals. but, it basically ends there. every other facet of the game suffers immensely in one way or another, especially when compared to prior installments. as you may or may not know, the development of this game became troubled at some point, which led to the final product being rushed and padded. it's not a deus ex: mankind divided situation, but it's not that much better either.
one of the things that irritated me most is the game trying to force me to play repeat missions just because there is literally nothing else to do and they wanted to pad out the playtime. thankfully you can sort of circumvent this if you play about a dozen or so side-op missions, which are repetitive themselves, but it's still better than literally repeating a story mission due to their bite-sized nature. another core issue i have with the game is the character of quiet and her misrepresentation and portrayal throughout the game. by the end of the game, i felt genuine sadness bordering on anger, and not in any way that the developers intended. here you have a character who had a ton of potential to be another tragic yet compelling figure in the series, who is entertaining to watch and sympathize with, in spite of her silence. this is, however, completely sabotaged by kojima's incessant perversion and voyeurism. anything that this character went through that could've had more weight is almost instantly compromised by gratuitous fan service time and time again. and this is not to say my issue with her strictly stems from her attire, though it doesn't help, because if you take a character like eva from mgs3, she is also scantily clad, and yet the actual purpose for that is an integral part of her character and role, and in my opinion actually serves commentary on how women are weaponized sexually even in times of war or espionage. with quiet, this is simply not the case. she is there to look good, to put it lightly, and do cool things, all the while living in complete servitude to the character venom and to you, the player. this also is not without its issues as it does not feel earned in any capacity. she just kind of decides to be your slave. there's something to be said about how the game forces you to grind until the last few missions of the game until you are finally able to unlock the only outfit available to her that isn't embarrassing. and even still, this outfit does not persist in cutscenes specifically where she is being brutalized. to have to watch this woman being abused and drowned while bits of her clothes come off and the camera zooms in on her chest is just typical kojima grossness in its worst form. i took issue with this same sort of thing in mgs4, with the only saving grace being that the b&b unit were not crucial or interesting characters that i was meant to empathize with and feel sorrow for (due to the terrible writing and forced sadness of it all. someone please inform kojima that he can't just write a 30 paragraph codec call that immediately follows a fight and expect you to feel anything but annoyance if not boredom.) to cap all of this off, i think the way her story ends is so lazy, disrespectful and even more indicative of her lack of autonomy. without going into too many spoilers, it just goes to show that her only purpose in this story is to be portrayed as your hot servant that will gladly sacrifice anything for your benefit, again, in a really contrived and disgusting unearned "romantic" way. what a waste.
other characters that were just poorly written or downright annoying to listen to for 90 straight hours were skull face and huey emmerich. i won't go too much into it since it's spoiler-heavy, but the exact point in the game where things reach a climax and go downhill very fast is when the main antagonist is unveiling his plan and nonsensical motivations that seem to only cheapen the larger story and themes. it doesn't take long before he vanishes from the story entirely, leaving nothing but confusion and even retcons in his wake. prior to playing this, i felt that solidus snake was the most boring and forgettable villain so far but skull face managed to outdo him spectacularly. huey is just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ annoying, and i understand that this is the point of his character but i could've gone without listening to hal's voice actor ♥♥♥♥♥ and moan endlessly. i'm truly over his squeamish crying at this point. in a similar vein, the voice actor change for snake, while at first was exciting and felt pretty good in the first quarter of the game, soon became monotonous and flat. at some point in the game the guy (who i will from this point forward refer to as kevin costner's voice doppelganger) just starts reading his lines instead of acting. maybe he was poorly directed, or maybe he just phoned it in, but either way i was left unimpressed and missing snake's original voice actor by the end of the game. kojima's obsession with inserting hollywood talent in his work is more destructive than it is entertaining.
the music was unfortunately forgettable and almost invisible to the ear because of how generic it was. given kojima's obvious admiration of jj abrams and michael bay, you'd think he would've opted for a more suitable score or licensed music selection for that matter, but instead we get "the man who sold the world" by david bowie (as covered by midge ure) inserted in the game so haphazardly and unfittingly that it truly just makes you wonder if the only reason he chose the song was because he could finally afford to insert his favourite copyrighted music into his games.
this all may sound too harsh in relation to my rating of a tentative 4/5, but i want to make it perfectly clear that i still thoroughly enjoyed about 80% of my time with this game, in relation to the gameplay. i feel it is a perfect example of what one may call a flawed gem. it is a great game that steps on its own toes frequently.
